


The Princess’s Sword and Lance

by sempre_balla



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Gen, Officer's Academy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25746286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sempre_balla/pseuds/sempre_balla
Summary: They should both know that they do not have to put on a show when sparring with each other to impress Elincia; she has seen them do this since they were children! And yet, here they both are, visibly exhausted and covered in sweat but still putting so much force into their blows that whenever their wooden weapons clash the noise makes Elincia flinch.
Relationships: Elincia Ridell Crimea & Geoffrey & Luchino | Lucia
Kudos: 5





	The Princess’s Sword and Lance

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone!! This is the second of two fics that I wrote for the wonderful [Academy Emblem Zine](https://twitter.com/FE_academy_zine/), a crossover zine about characters from the older Fire Emblem games in the Officer's Academy from Three Houses. It was an absolute blast to work on and it is chock full with wonderful art and writing.
> 
> I had the pleasure of writing some of my Tellius favorites, Elincia and her retainers, doing some friendly sparring. Please enjoy!!

Elincia was raised away from the court and the public eye, but she still had a princess’s upbringing. Growing up, every day was filled with lessons on etiquette, diplomacy, combat, and many other things. However, despite her abundant share of tutors and instructors, Elincia’s most valuable teachers have always been Lucia and Geoffrey. Being a little older than her and having been raised to protect their princess, they have always been ahead of her when it came to battle training. Elincia had a seasoned swordmaster train her in the art of the blade, but Lucia would still correct her stance and grip when she was doing her drills. She taught her how to adapt to the weight of her blade, how to move it to become swift and nimble but still powerful. Likewise, Elincia’s pegasus riding instructor was a very patient and capable teacher, but she didn’t teach her what Geoffrey taught her—how to handle her weapon while riding a mount, and how to manage having a hand on the reins and the other on the handle of her sword without losing her balance.

In short, Elincia has always known her retainers’ strengths and she has admired them for as long as she remembers. That is why she’s standing on the monastery training grounds, looking at the twins sparring and wondering why they’re being so… over the top about it. Geoffrey and Lucia are usually very down-to-earth, serious and straight-laced—the former much more than the latter, but even though Lucia’s demeanor is more relaxed than Geoffrey’s, she can be serious to a fault as well. They should both know that they do not have to put on a show when sparring with each other to impress Elincia; she has seen them do this since they were children! And yet, here they both are, visibly exhausted and covered in sweat but still putting so much force into their blows that whenever their wooden weapons clash the noise makes Elincia flinch. They have been fighting for far too long now, and the princess just wishes one of them would budge. Geoffrey promised her he would assist her lance training, since she’s aiming to pass the falcon knight exam and her sword skills alone can’t carry her through it. He agreed to a quick spar with Lucia while Elincia warmed up, but Elincia finished before they could wrap it up, and then they noticed her watching, which just led them from a casual fight to an intense clash of sword and lance. She clutches her training lance to her chest and sighs, wondering how much longer this will go on for.

“Something wrong, Princess?” a familiar voice calls, and she turns to see Ike standing a few steps away, idly twirling his two-handed sword in one hand as Nephenee sits next to him, panting heavily to recover from their own spar.

“I was hoping to get some training in, but…” She cocks her head towards her retainers, still engrossed in their fight. Ike smiles slightly, sympathetic.

“I think I have time for another round before I have to go join Soren for stable duty,” he says, resting the point of his sword on the ground. “Wanna go?”

Elincia shakes her head, smiling too. “Thank you, Ike, but it is fine. I will wait.”

“If you say so,” he replies, shrugging and heading towards the weapons rack. Wordlessly—and still wheezing—Nephenne gets up and follows him, offering one small wave to the princess, which she cheerily returns. Over his shoulder, Ike says, “You could always break up the fight. Ashera knows you’re good at that.”

Elincia hides a chuckle behind her hand and watches her classmates walk away. Ike is right, being the house leader of the Bronze Phoenices has led her to witnessing many fights and having to break up most of them. There’s a lot of conflict in their house, especially between some beorc and laguz, but not limited to that. Earlier this week, Naesala had teased Reyson about getting a higher test score than him, and Elincia had had to step in before Reyson broke his hand smacking him. A couple of days after that she had seen Tormod chasing Sothe through the entrance hall with a fire tome in hand, and had to intervene as well. She turns to look at Lucia and Geoffrey, considering if she should step in. If she were to order them to stop they would do so in a heartbeat, but she doesn’t like ordering them around unless it is absolutely necessary. Plus, these two are always trying to impress her, and maybe Elincia can take this chance to be the one impressing them instead. If they are one-upped by their charge, it might get them to stop for good. 

Geoffrey swings his lance, making a large sweeping motion with its point. Lucia dodges it and he kicks the pole of the lance, giving himself more momentum to spin the weapon and make a faster sweep at his sister, who blocks it this time. The force of the blow makes her stagger slightly but it also makes it harder for Geoffrey to recover and attack again, so Lucia takes the chance to duck forward and deliver three quick thrusts with her wooden blade. Geoffrey grunts when one of them hits his stomach and the other his shoulder, but he takes a couple of steps back to dodge the third. Lucia slashes upwards and Geoffrey manages to block this blow. Their weapons clash once more and grind against each other for a second before Geoffrey throws his weight forward and pushes Lucia back. She’s always been much speedier than her brother, but she is light and Geoffrey is strong, so Lucia is flung backwards and has to take a couple of staggering steps to steady herself. There is tension in the air as they both take a few breaths and prepare themselves to attack again, but when they both jump back in, Elincia is ready. She dashes forward and raises her lance over her shoulder to block Lucia’s slash. Her sword comes down faster than Geoffrey’s lance, which Elincia catches with her foot in the midst of its trajectory, stepping on it to bring it to the ground and effectively trapping herself between their still weapons.

For a moment, the siblings don’t react, staring at their princess in shock as they take heaving breaths. The racket of clashing weapons from the other students using the training grounds is almost deafening and it envelops the silent, unmoving trio.

“Your Highness…” Geoffrey breathes after a few seconds more and, belatedly, Lucia gasps.

“That was incredible!” she exclaims, raising her sword and stepping back to give Elincia room to move. “A little dangerous, but you really had the situation under control, didn’t you? Your speed puts me to shame, Princess Elincia.”

Elincia steps back as well to let Geoffrey withdraw his weapon, her face burning. She shakes her free hand lightly, embarrassed by the praise but also by her own actions. She definitely managed to impress her retainers and the fight was successfully cut short, but she could have probably been less flashy about it. Now she just feels like she shamelessly showed off to the people she greatly admires.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you have always been the faster one,” she tells Lucia, trying to appear more composed than she actually feels. “I could only step in because you were tired after such a long spar. You too,” she adds, turning to Geoffrey, who is still staring at her with an awestruck look on his face. “Do you think you could still help me with the lance, or have you tired yourself out too much?”

The way in which Geoffrey straightens his back and squares his shoulders is comically fast and it makes Lucia snort loudly. Elincia manages to hold back a laugh and only smiles at him, but she feels her embarrassment dissipate thanks to the familiarity of the siblings’ behavior.

“Of course not, Your Highness!” he says, his voice loud and sure as if he had not just spent a criminal amount of time sparring like his life depended on it. “I am ready whenever you are!”

“I guess I will have to find someone else to spar with me then,” Lucia says.

Elincia shakes her head, equal parts fond and exasperated. Her retainers should be more than exhausted, but they are both people that always give their all in everything they do. While that can be a constant source of worry, it is also what makes them so incredibly reliable. Elincia could not be any gladder that they followed her to the Officer’s Academy and continued to teach her more than anyone else ever could.

“You two are amazing,” she says, meaning every word.


End file.
